


I Won't Say I'm in Love~

by Joey_Valentine



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Help, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Self-Worth Issues, Therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-18 17:36:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16123448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joey_Valentine/pseuds/Joey_Valentine
Summary: War brings all kind of drama and tension, but post-war? Watch as our heroes have falling outs and replenish their relationships and build each other up from the ashes that once was.





	1. I do not

**Author's Note:**

> First Dramione fic. Idek. I ship them so hard, but like, don't judge me if it's bad. I did try. Haha.

Rehabilitation, as with all wars, was an inevitable outcome. People wandered around the rubble, aimlessly, as they worked together to repair the school where so many lives: students, order members, death eaters, as well as various magical creatures alike, had all fought for their own causes. A comfortable silence had fallen over the whole community as witches and wizards of all ages had gathered together to repair the once magnificent castle to its former glory before the battle that had decided their fate as a whole happened. No one dare spoke; it was an unspoken rule, that the reconstruction of the home they had all once shared at one point in their lives, was to be done in complete silence, save for people announcing they were moving somewhere else to see if another group needed help, or to announce that something was placed wrong, and needed to be fixed immediately, or the silent whispering of spells. 

A week; a simple week had passed since the war had ended, and the chosen one had prevailed. The silent victory party that had ensued after the war had concluded hadn't been enough to heal the wounds of the past three years, and even a week later, people still had an unspoken vow of silence as they walked among the dead. Bodies had been burned and buried, and funerals had been had, but no one could bear to be the one to try to bring a little more life to this once thriving paradise. Not now, and probably not ever.

They always said that time healed all wounds, but for the Brightest Witch of her Age, Hermione Granger, she didn't think time was something that would be on her side. She had been on the front-lines of battle, at only seventeen, and had seen and done more than many of the greatest wizards and witches of all time could only dream of; had seen things people should never see, and had even been on the receiving end of a few of the unspeakable acts. Time was definitely not something that could heal away the sorrows of her past. 

Former Death Eater trials had been going on since the very next dawn after the battle had ended, and today was the only one that she and the Weasley family had been called to, the one for the Malfoy Family. Harry Potter, the shared friend between all of them, and the very reason why the war had ended in the first place in favor of the side of justice, had sat in and testified on all of them, but this was the only one that needed more understanding, and was open to the general public, as it should be. The Malfoys were an ancient wizarding family, and had always been the forefront of all wizarding politics; everyone knew the name, everyone feared the name, and everyone was curious as to what had happened to them and led them to their fall from grace, especially seeing as they were the only family of their status to have come out, mostly, unscathed, and altogether.

The room was full, only standing room was available in the back, there was nowhere for anyone to sit, as the whole of the auditorium had been filled, people were holding onto their own family members, and friends, alike, as they all glared down to the three people on trial. Lucius Malfoy had been up first. Hermione, Harry, and Ron, had all gave their statements about him and his acts against them and their friends, even offering up their own memories such as the battle for the department of mysteries, but the thing that had really locked him away for good was an accidental slip of a memory from Harry, as the killing curse was almost undoubtedly spilled from Mr, Malfoy's lips towards Harry Potter back in the end second year over Dobby who saved him. Lucius Malfoy had let everyone under the impression he had still been acting under the Imperius curse, but it was common knowledge Voldemort didn't return until Harry was fourteen, and his hair had been even longer at the time, and seeing as his fourth year was well-documented and placed out at the beginning of all of the trials, that was enough to sentence Lucius Malfoy away for good. No need to testify between Hermione and Ron. 

Narcissa Malfoy's trial wasn't as bad as her husband's. She had never been officially involved with the Death Eaters, and Harry left his memory of her saving his life and lying to the Dark Lord himself on display for the whole of the wizarding world. She was spared with house arrest for a whole year to the date, not to associate herself with the outside world in any way, unless they came to her of their own accord, and she would meet with an auror every week three times a week to have a watchful eye on her, and veritaserum, to make sure she isn't in contact with her deceased sister's estranged husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, who has since, evaded capture, with groans of disagreement from Ron, something Hermione had raised her hand at, as if she was about to smack him, but had decided against; something, she had noted, had drawn a lot of the eyes to face the three war heroes on the stand, and whispers had grown among the crowd, though Narcissa's watchful eyes had amusement to them as she took in the sight herself. 

Draco Malfoy's trial was the real reason the whole world had showed up to the trial. Everyone wanted to know of the Malfoy family heir, to see what would become of their fortune. There had been talk, that if he were to be sent away, a vast majority of their fortune would be split among the wizarding families who remained alive to this day. Something everyone was counting on, especially Arthur Weasley, who had made it very clear that Lucius Malfoy owed a lot of his success to Arthur's own ministry doings, and he deserved a cut of the wealth. Hermione had laughed at the thought when he had announced it, but she didn't realize he was actually half serious. She knew the Weasley's were poor; everyone knew it, but she didn't expect them to expect money to just be handed to them since they stood on the side of good and emerged heroes of the war. She also knew Mr. Weasley, and knew he was just trying to find a light in the situation since losing one of his beloved sons, and all of the emotional and physical scars his family had to endure the last few years from harboring Harry Potter and being major players for the war at hand. 

It all came down to this. The words of three barely legal adults. 

Harry, quick as ever to forgive anyone, had said that Draco Malfoy might have been a lot of things, but the one thing he wasn't, as a murderer. He had no ill will to Draco Malfoy, and that he would hope to see him at Hogwarts on September 2nd, to return for everyone's official seventh year. 

Ron, as his usual temperament, had a few choice words to say about Draco, and had put a horrified expression on his mother's face as they flew out of his mouth at lightning speed. And with some coercing from the aurors on duty for the trials, he had, reluctantly, agreed that Draco Malfoy was no danger to himself, or anyone else in society. 

Hermione's testimony had been a bit more difficult than her two companions. She had made the mistake to meet the eyes of the wizard she was testifying on behalf, and she had froze up on the stand, her mind flashing back to the night at Malfoy Manor, where her memory was put on display for any and all to see. Horrified gasps went through the crowd as the memories replayed her screaming and pleading with the witch who had since haunted every memory, every moment, and every dream. She could feel the memories in her mind as her eyes glazed over and her whole fears from before was placed for all to see. She could feel them playing, and she willed herself to shut them off, to lock them away, for good, and she could feel the exact moment when it became relevant to her testimony for Mr. Malfoy, as she willed herself to block it out, but being in her faraway trance, she couldn't do anything, she watched again, as if she were from someone else's eyes, as she saw herself meet her eyes with Draco's, silently pleading for him to do something, anything, to get her out of her predicament. She watched as the two apparitions of herself and memory Draco stared at each other for a long moment, before apparition Draco turned away, silently arguing with his own demons, as the witch he had known for seven years, succumbed to helplessness at the mercy of his aunt. The courtroom had gone through countless of their memories, but that was the one that kept playing over for all to see. Even the one where she punched him in the face hadn't gotten as strong of a reaction; it was the memory with her, helpless and crying in pain on the floor in his house, that everyone had decided to be the focal point for her statements. It was definitely a moment that could have turned the whole tide of the war, if he had acted on it, so she knew why they had chosen that one. She had agreed to it with the attorneys beforehand when they had stooped through her memories to see which ones they could play. But it being out in the open like that, for all of the world to see; it made her feel naked, to feel helpless all over again. If there was one thing Hermione had learned from the war, it was that she was anything but helpless, and to feel that sense of emotion all over again, it made her feel less than helpless. She felt naked. Like she wasn't in her own body anymore, and she was a stranger looking to herself from the outside.

Her memories had stopped playing over for the whole of the community, and a small silence had fallen over the crowd. Her eyes looked up again to meet the silver eyes, and something in them, fear, maybe? Made her make her choice.

"Miss. Granger, we ask you again---Do you think Mr. Malfoy imposes a danger to anyone in our society, yourself included?" The Head Auror whose name slipped Hermione's mind at the moment, asked.

"I do not," The witch commented out, the silver eyes boring into her at that point; the same silvery color of the knife that had carved the words "Mudblood" and "Filth" that radiated onto her skin, feeling flaming hot in that moment. "Give him a lighter sentence. He didn't do anything he wasn't forced to or had to, in order to keep himself and his family safe," and with that, the Golden Girl, The backbone of the Golden Trio, had stood up from the trial at hand, people parting instantly for her as she walked out, and disappeared for a few long months, leaving the rest of the world to wonder what had happened to her.


	2. Chapter 2

Screams, terror, agony; the young blonde male woke with a shake in the night as his heavy breathing beat from below his eardrums, and he made a mental note that he was safe. He was alone. He was in his own room, safe and sound. His mother was probably in the study, mourning the unofficial loss of her husband from their own sanctuary. The young man had no idea why they had decided to come back to this shell of a place they had called home once before. The last two years held nothing but fear and bad memories. Bad memories he had long since come to regret. He had a choice in the war, once upon a time. When he was staring one of the greatest wizards to have ever lived down with his wand aimed to him, he had been offered solace and salvation for his family's sins. He even had choices before then as well. He didn't have to help the Death Eaters into Hogwarts; he didnt have to spend his sixth year of schooling in constant fear he would fail. He was sure his parents would have died, but he knew, they would have died happily to know he had made the right choice for himself, even if it meant his own death would have been inevitable. He could have come clean for all of the work he had done, and sought help from the very person he had been sent out to bring down. And who knows, maybe Dumbledore could have sent people to his parents right when Draco did come clean. There would have been another battle, and countless lives would have been lost that night, but at least he and his parents would have been on the path to redemption sooner rather than at the last moment, if they had survived the fight of their lives. 

He chuckled darkly to himself as he sat up fully in his bedroom, slapping himself mentally. 

His mother deserved salvation. 

` His father, on the other hand, love him as Draco did, was a terrible person who deserved to relive his worst memories with the dementors every night. He knew his parents were never physically violent with each other, but he could remember many-a-countless nights where he would lay awake in his bedroom, listening to them argue, and glass breaking in the distance. 

No man who could point his wand at an innocent twelve-year-old and say clearly and loudly a direct killing curse, deserved any salvation. Not in Draco's eyes. 

Draco didn't even think that he, himself, deserved to repent for his own sins. He wasn't exactly under the Imperius curse when he had committed all of his crimes, but he also didn't exactly regret what he had done, either. Granted, he had been young and forced into this life from his own father's wrongdoings and many misfortunes, but the fact remained that deep down inside of him, he enjoyed the torturings he witnessed; he relished in the fact that he had killed a muggleborn witch in front of his father and all his crones. The only thing he regretted, with every fiber of his being, was not stopping the brown-haired witch he had come to admire in all of the time he had spent with her at school from crumbling and crying out at the hands of his deranged aunt. Especially after it was her testimony that kept him from serving the whole year in Azkaban, even kept him out of the same probation that his mother had been on, and even allowed him to return to school to have a shot at a normal last year of schooling. 

Hermione Granger was definitely someone Draco Malfoy owed his life to, and he hated owing his life to anyone; especially someone of her caliber, who had always annoyed him with her know-it-all ways. Sure, she was intelligent, and some might say beautiful, and definitely gifted, but she was the only one who had ever beat him out in any of his classes. He had always fallen just shy of all of her homework and exam scores alike, even on the OWLs, and he resented her with every fiber of his being for that. He was a born pureblood; a born genius and prodigy, and she came from nowhere, and nothing, and was better than him?

But now, having finally stood up from his bed and peering into his vanity, he felt no ill-will to the Brightest Witch he had ever known, and he had known some very intelligent people in his time, the aunt in question who had tortured her being one. Draco had a thought then. He realized that wars were played with equal ground, and people mimicked each other on both sides. He could argue that Dumbledore and Harry both represented Voldemort, as both of them were equal hope for the side of justice. Granger was always at Harry's right-hand, and definitely the whole reason he had made it out as well as he did. He knew his aunt was always Voldemort's second-in-command, so that made Granger and Bellatrix equals for the war. But where did Draco fall? He followed along with his aunt's orders for fear of his own life and his mother's, and fought his very own battles to keep himself afloat and alive, so some could say he was a dark night; a fallen prince. Did that make him equal to the Weasel who always hung around Potter and Granger? 

He chuckled darkly and slapped himself for real this time, making a mental note to never think that way again. Weasel was a hero; Draco was a bottom-feeder; someone who followed the greater power in his eyes, someone who was too weak to make his own choice; to make the right one. He was less than Weasel,and he knew it. Though he would never, ever, repeat as much aloud. He only hoped no one would ever see this thought in his memories if they were to ever poke through it again. Realizing he would never be able to get back to sleep if his life depended on it, he made his way down to the kitchen area of the manor, making great caution to avoid the drawing room where everything had happened, and poured himself a glass of milk, when his mother's soft cough of acknowledgment shook him completely from his thoughts. 

"That mud--er, Granger girl--is still missing," Narcissa Malfoy's cool voice sounded from the island in the middle of the kitchen where there used to be three bar stools but now only held two. "I know you have been trying to keep tabs on her,so I just wanted to point it out before you got your hopes up." 

"Thanks, Mother," Draco called back sincerly as he poured her a glass of milk as well, and made his way to the other chair. 

"The whole world seems to be falling apart without her -- everyone wants to know her story, and where she went after our trials. Headmistress McGonagall had put out an official statement that she would leave the Head Girl position open just for her, for a whole week after term starts, just so she can have it. She doesn't want anyone else, and I cannot blame her for that. As she, and I quote, says; "Miss Granger will surely return to Hogwarts for her last year, either on time or late, I am very certain of that fact, and with a heavy heart and tear-filled eyes, I speak for all of the staff at Hogwarts in saying I wish we could do more for her." The poor girl deserves a lot more than just the highest honor Hogwarts can give her. People are also posting gossip and saying that she is being held hostage in our dungeons. I wish she was."

Draco's eyes turned dark at that, but his mother sighed heavily and elaborated further. 

"Not as a prisoner, of course, but just so everyone knows she is fine and perfectly safe. I would never hurt a child your age or younger -- I couldn't bear the thought of anyone hurting you, why would I hurt someone else's kid? Her parents must be sick with worry with her disappearance. Surely people have gone to look at their house in muggle London?"

Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head disapprovingly again, to which his mother continued. 

"I know, I know. You're no longer a child. But it doesn't matter how old you get, nor how old I get; you will always be my little boy, and I will always see you as a child." 

Draco smiled for the first time since they had been confined to their house, and gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek, and he returned to his room, his milk in hand, downing it before situating himself back under the covers, letting himself fall back into an uneasy sleep. He didn't once question how his mother received a copy of the papers these days as she wasn't allowed to have any contact with the outside world, but he didn't really care. Perhaps the Malfoy name hadn't been completely ruined, or perhaps she had gone back to using the name of Black, which had gotten quite the good praise when truth came out about Sirius Black's innocence, and Andromeda Black-Tonks's being left to raise a less-than-one-year-old-grandson, who is the forefront for the hope for the future generation, being Harry Potter's godchild.


	3. Chapter 3

Air; she had needed air. The silver eyes had brought out the worst of her memories and fears, and she needed to get away. As soon as her feet had touched down on gravel after she had disapparated from the outermost reaches of the ministry and its wards, she had fallen to the ground and began to vomit. The young witch had retched until nothing would come up anymore, and she had summoned a bottle of water from the stand a few yards away. She had apparated to the old muggle fairgrounds where she had once come with her parents, and it just-so-happened that a fair was going on. She always knew muggles had been oblivious to the actual happenings of their world, but she never knew how much so. She felt relief when she realized she was alone, and no one else of her kind was around. She could feel nothing, no malice, no envy, no distaste, just pure happiness and bliss, and it was enough for her to clear her head. 

Hermione Granger wandered through the fairgrounds, smiling happily as people acknowledged her existence with waves and smiles of their own. She watched as parents pushed their children on swings, and even held their hands as they waited in lines with their older ones. It made her long for her own parents, then, to feel the warm embrace of her own family members, to be happy and loved for the first time in a long time. 

She knew she had that in the Weasleys, Molly always treated her like she was a second daughter to her, minus the one time in her fourth year, but they had long since moved past that. But she also knew the relationship there came with strings. She had to be Ron's friend, maybe more-than-friend for her to feel that relationship with Molly, and at the time, Ron was being very unbearable. He kept crowding around her and barking orders at her, and forcing her to smile for cameras and be the face of hope for the new age, but she didn't want that. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts, to live out the rest of her life in solitude, away from the limelight. She had been dubbed the backbone of the Golden Trio, and everyone wanted to know how she kept them all alive during the war and battles, as everyone so eloquently said: "Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley wouldn't have lasted two days without you! How did you stay so composed dealing with all of this?" and she had answered in the most simple of ways, that they are her best friends, and she would do everything and anything for them, even if it meant using protection charms and wards that were rather illegal if one wasn't under ministry supervision. 

But, since the battle, Ron had been wanting to be more than friends, and he was suffocating her. He dictated their every move, and took every photo opportunity to show the world she was his girlfriend. And she hated the way he always said it; like she was his property. She belonged to no one. She was her own person, had her own emotions, and she was independent and strong-willed. She would not be tied-down to someone who paraded her around like she was some trophy to be won. 

No.

She needed space. And time. But she didn't have time. Time was not a luxury to her, not now, not ever. She didn't think it ever had been. And if there was one thing Hermione understood, it was time. She had to write a twenty-page essay on why time management was important and the aspect of time itself in order for her to get her time-turner in third year, and during her use of said object, had grasped the very importance of life itself, and how every moment was precious and not worth wasting. But isn't that what she had done? She wasted her life fighting in a war,when she could have avoided it altogether. She could have gone with her parents and spent her life with them, living out in the solitude of the sandy beached of Australia and the Pacific Ocean. 

She knew then what needed to be done, she needed to go to her parents, to see them, to give them their lost memories back, and to spend time with people who understood how her mind worked, as they had always raised her to be above the rest of the world in the way she understood how things worked. With that thought in mind, Hermione Granger did something illegal to all, and set up an unauthorized portkey in the middle of Muggle London, and made her way to her past and future in her parents. She remembered exactly where she had sent them, and said the charm with the utmost candor, and felt the familiar sensation of a hook pulling the back of her shirt as she woke up on a white sandy beach with waves crashing around her, the empty water bottle from the fair laying beside her. 

She made her way to the small muggle thirftstore she had set her parents up with, and smiled as she saw her mother for the first time, the curls in her brown hair matching her own, and her muddy brown eyes looking to her with the friendliest of smiles, not knowing that her seemingly perfect life was about to change forever. 

 

**********************************************************************  
The rest of the summer holidays passed in a blur of boredom and loneliness. None of his former friends had come to see him, and Draco Malfoy knew it was because his family had made off with minimal damage, though the rest of his housemates had gotten more taken from them. The Parkinsons had lost their manor, and were now shunned from the ministry, but they still had a lavish decent sized house, the Goyles lost all of their townhouse business and may as well have been bankrupt, the Zabinis were managing okay, but that was mostly because Blaise's mother had gone off to spend a few years in Italy to learn more about other cultures and had left Blaise to fend for himself, and Draco knew his mother had been borderline during the first war, and being that she had been gone for the whole of the second one, no one knew which side she would have taken, so everyone just let that be, and the Crabbes had all been wiped out and were now distant memories to all of the wizarding world. The Notts had suffered the most, however. They no longer owned any of their properties, Theodore's mother was dead, and Mr. Nott had life prison in Azkaban. The only thing Theodore had left, was his families golden goblet making business, that had been shut down until Theodore himself could prove he had repent and paid his dues to society. He was left with no money, no family, and nowhere to go. He was placed with a seemingly understanding foster family for the duration of his last school year, as they were still considered children until they graduated. Draco heard through the grapevine it was the Lovegoods who had taken him in, after he had sworn an unbreakable vow to never hurt any who lived or entered their house, something he found quite amusing and wished he could see for himself how mad Theodore was at the younger Lovegood's crazy theories. 

Luna. That was her name. Draco remembered her briefly from her stay in his dungeons. He had a soft spot for her, as he was usually the one who brought them food, per his aunt's requests, and she would always tell him some unknown animal was buzzing around him and could see that he was not all bad. PErhaps she was right, but also perhaps, he should have done more to help her. He could have gotten her out. He knew she was good friends with Potter, and the top of her year in school. They could have fought and schemed together, and he could have gotten himself and her to safety, maybe brought his mother with them. It would have been easy, should have been easy, with her helping, but he had turned the other cheek and left her alone. That was one of his sins, and something he knew he would have to make up for, in time. 

Draco had also found the source of his mother's gossip collums and the Daily Prophet sender. It was her sister, Andromeda. Apparently the two had reached out to one another by way of talking patronus's during the final battle after Narcissa had realized her family had been more important than the cause they had all been fighting for. Things had been tense at first, of course, but his mother had come clean, and told him about it. She was pettitioning to be allowed to visit her sister once a week, or every two weeks if the ministry deemed the once a week to be too much freedom. Her sister would come there during one of Narcissa's visits with the aurors and they would speak and catch up under the watchful eye of the ministry. Draco knew his mother always got her way, but he never knew how until that moment. She was very persuasive, and he knew she had years of diplomatic and aristrocratic training to prepare her for her life. He also found she had, in fact, taken back to calling herself by the last name of Black. Something he wished he could do, as he was, in a way, a Black, as well. But his mother told him that that was her birthright, something she had been born, and always would be; his was to be a Malfoy, and the only way he could continue on the path of redemption, was for him to uphold his given name, and show everyone that he was better than the sins of his own father. 

Draco knew she was right; his mother was always right, but the thought still stung and nearly made him fall to tears, something she had held him close to, and gave him the warmest hug he had had in years, at least since he had been twelve, and they sat down together and just sat there, his head on her shoulders as she played with his blonde hair that was closer to hers than his father's, though he wondered, then, if she had dyed it blonde to keep up appearances. It was more of a bleached look than his father's, and his own had tussles of brown in it, so it would only make sense if she had the Black family's darker hair than the Malfoy's signature blonde locks.

It was August 31st when an owl had been sent to him and Minerva McGonagall's handwriting was on the outside of the letter. He had been accepted as head boy, and she apologized for the delay, but she wanted to let him know beforehand. She told him how proud she was of the man he had become and he knew it was bogus. Unless she really had sat through all of his trial, in some unknown part of the courtroom, and witnessed his own statements long after Hermione Granger had taken off, though he knew that was the whole reason he had been spared completely. Time had been at a complete standstill as every eye in the courtroom had gone to her face. He felt like he was going to vomit, and he did, as soon as the closing statement had read through his eyes and registered in his brain. 

McGonagall had said she had argued with every staff member at the school to get him the position, so she hoped he would make the right choices and not abuse his powers.

He felt real tears come forward at that, and he began to cry for everything and anything all at once, silently breaking down in his own private bathroom, away from his mother and her comfort, completely, and utterly, alone. 

 

*********************************************************************************

 

Hermione had easy luck getting her parents' memories back to them, and they all held each other close, and caught up on old times. She had been at the beach watching her mother do some night-swimming, which was now her favorite past time and exercise routine, when an owl came flying to her, just before midnight, on August 31st, a few minutes before September would hit, and she had forgotten all of her wizarding world troubles until then, and she opened the letter from the Headmistress and was shocked to see she was wanted as head girl. She had called her mother out of the water and her mother beamed with excitement, and they shared a moment, and went back inside of the house her family had decided to stay in, having realized that being dentists was too stressful for their marriage and all of the odd hours they both had to work had really put a strain on them, so they had decided to keep the store and their faux lives for the time being, as they were finally happy. 

 

Hermione bid them goodbye, and arranged for a, this time legal, portkey to take her back to wizarding London, where she met with Tom, the innkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron, and all of her books and stuff were ready for her train ride the next morning.


	4. Chapter 4

Tthe train ride had been rather boring at first, but Draco found his common ground and a decent friendship in the making in Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood who had been at the Prefect and Head boy and girl meeting, in which the pair of them sat together and voiced their opinions loudly for all to hear. Longbottom had managed to be a prefect because Weasle had took up being Quidditch Captain because Potter had turned it down, and who could blame him? He claimed to want to have a year to just relax and have a normal life for a change, according to Lovegood. Looney had taken up the seventh-year prefect duties as the female from her house had died in the battle for the school, and she had petitioned for the schoolboard to allow Theodore to be the male from Slytherin house once the news had gotten out about Draco's being head boy. How she had managed to rearrange the whole school system in less-than-a-single-day was beyond Draco, but he figured her part in the war and being Potter's friend didn't help. She had said something about how it "will help him on his path to redemption," and she "could keep a better eye on him if she spent more time with him," and "what else are friends for?"

Draco laughed at all of that, though he knew he was supposed to be serious for these meetings, as he was supposed to take charge as head boy, but Looney and Longbottom had everything under control. They had addressed various concerns that had even been on Draco's mind and let everyone know that people were not supposed to crowd Harry Potter or his friends and if anyone didn't move whenever a prefect or head boy demanded they moved along, they were to get detention and ten points taken away from them. Draco wondered what Granger would have thought of that, then, but she wasn't there to give her own input, so he let that one slide. Longbottom asked if he had agreed, and he nodded his head. Looney smiled and motioned for the meeting to be over, and she reached for Theodore's hand and said something about how he was to sit with her, which Theodore grumbled and said she was supposed to help him redeem himself, not act like a mother hen and something about if he was able to use the bathroom by himself alone at all this year but the rest had been cut off. Longbottom coughed once everyone else had left and Draco and him were alone. 

"Sorry, Malfoy," Longbottom commented, his eyes looking anywhere but Draco's. 

"For what?" Draco asked, seriously confused. 

"For taking over the meeting and stepping on your territory like that," Neville elaborated, finally meeting the other male's face. 

"Don't worry about it, I'm at a loss for what to say and confused as to why I'm even here," Draco admitted seriously, a small chuckle escaping his lips. 

"Luna wouldn't stop talking about you while we were in the other compartment waiting for the meeting to start. She was going on about how she knows this would be good for you and we should support you in any way we can, and since Granger isn't around, it would be up to us to uphold things the way she would want them to, being as we know her best of the students in charge," Neville laughed, doing a decent impression of the other blonde haired witch. 

"She kind of has a point, though. I know nothing about Granger, besides she's a know-it-all, and likes to have things her way. Honestly, I was hoping she would be here, so I could just slink into the shadows and let my last year go by in a blur, maybe hand out a few detentions here and there. I'm not too sure she would be happy with the arrangement at hand, however." Draco replied back, easily, wondering where Longbottom had gotten so much courage from. He couldn't ever think of a time when the two of them had even talked for longer than a second, but here they were. 

"I'm sure she'd be fine with it. She's a lot like Harry that way. She always tries to see the best in people, although it wouldn't hurt to apologize for tormenting her for so long. Anyway, Malfoy, I can tell you just wanted to get the whole thing done with and that's mostly why I spoke up a lot. I would have let Luna get creative and taken over everything herself otherwise and that is the last thing anyone needed. If I ever want a night off of prefect duty, I will let you know and you can cover for me, I'll be seeing you," and with that, Neville waved and went off to join his friends, leaving Draco alone with his thoughts. 

This was going to be a long year, but at least he managed his first meeting with people, mostly unscathed. Minus the aching in his heart that no one wanted to stay with him for the rest of the train ride, being as he used to have a full compartment at his disposal, but there he was. 

 

**************************************************************************

 

Hermione had awoken on September 1st with nerves pulling at her every-which-way, and she had decided to spend some more time to herself, to recover some more, before she was to be reintroduced into society. Tom, the innkeeper, had agreed to let her stay for the rest of the week, until she got her bearings in order, though he had mentioned she was to have dinner with Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Minister for Magic, to which she had agreed to. She had known Kingsley for a few years, and knew he was a reasonable man, and she knew he would send word to the Weasleys as soon as he was done with their dinner, so that way they would know she was fine, and, undoubtedly, tell Ron and Harry. Something she was the most nervous for. They had needed her, her two best friends, and she just left them. She knew they would be angry with her the first time she saw them, and that was something she had to prepare for. 

"Miss Granger, how lovely it is to see you again," Kingsley's slow and drawling voice called out as she entered the private area of the dining room that had been set up for them. The Head Auror from the trials accompanied him, and he nodded solemnly to Hermione as she sat. 

"Kinglsey, always a pleasure," Hermione said back, looking around the area she was in. It was decorated way too nice to be the same inn she was staying in, had golden marble walls, and elegant oak floors to match, and even a fountain near the back that spewed out sparkling liquid that she couldn't decide what it was. This must be a place reserved for special guests only as her eyes would never believe it was the same rusted down and dirty place.

"So. I have to ask, you were not captured and held anywhere without your own consent for the last three months were you?" Kinglsey commented, waving his wand and a delicious looking roast appeared in front of the three of them, with a few pasta dishes Hermione couldn't tell what they were. 

"I went to my parents. I used an illegal portkey to get to Australia and I got their memories back, but you knew that, when I sent you the talking patronus upon the arrival of my letter." 

"And, what, exactly, is your patronus, as well as my own?" 

"Yours is a lynx; mine is an otter." 

"And when did Harry Potter become capable of producing a full-body patronus?" 

"Third year, something people beyond their NEWT levels can hardly do." 

"Alright, I have to ask simple questions only you could know the answer to. Have to be careful these days, still some loose ends to tie up." 

"I understand, sir." 

 

They filled their plates and ate in silence for a moment, taking in the scenery, and the familiar faces of two people who once fought on the same side, multiple times. They had an understanding for each other, and it was a comfortable silence. 

"The whole of the Wizarding world was worried about you, you know," Kinglsey said after a moment, taking a glass out of a goblet that hadn't been there before. 

"I'm sorry, Sir. I had to get away," Hermione replied, thinking she was thirsty for milk, to which a goblet of her own appeared. 

Kingsley sighed and put his knife and fork down. "I understand completely. I wanted to get away myself, but no one else -- who could be trusted completely and swear the proper oaths -- would step up to fill the shoes I've had to. I do not blame you one bit. You do plan on returning to school, correct?" 

"I want to take as much time off as I can -- but yes -- I plan to spend a few more days here and go back before the weekend."

"Mind if we put your word out for a quote for the papers? It's just -- I've had people breaking down my door since your disappearance wondering why I wasn't doing anything to find you. Potter and Weasley were among the first and they both had to be escorted out by force."

Hermione gulped, and turned away, letting out a long sigh and contemplating for a moment before she answered. "Well there goes a quiet return--"

"I won't tell anyone where you are staying if you don't want me to. Everyone just needs to know your safe. You are an icon for the world; a beacon of hope, and a symbol of peace."

"That's fine, then, sir. May I be excused now?" 

"Of course, sorry to bother you. I'm really glad you're back, Miss Granger."

Hermione smiled a weak smile, and waved to him, skipping the proper bow most people did for a person of his status, as the two of them had been seen as equals once before, and made her way back to her room. 

The next few days passed in an uneventful blur and eventually she had her suitcase and nearly limitless beaded bag in hand as she waited for the time she was to floo to Hogwarts and Headmistress McGonagall's office. 

**********************************************************************************

The first week of classes passed by like no time at all had gone by, and Draco was finally seated in McGonagall's office. He had been called up there for a quick meeting with the headmistress, and was told to stay up there and wait until eleven o'clock sharp. She said it was a surprise and he was to be patient for it. He didn't dare argue with McGonagall, she was probably the only person alive who could put real fear in him, so he did as he was asked. 

As soon as eleven hit, the fireplace in front of the pair of them began to glow green, and a figure appeared. Hermione Granger stood standing in front of them, a small and bashful smile on her face as she took in those who greeted her, though it turned a little sour as her eyes met his, and he flashed himself back to the trial, when she had last laid her eyes on his. She stumbled forward and turned to McGonagall. 

"I'm finally home," the witch called, to which McGonagall ran forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her. 

"Miss Granger, I am so glad you decided to actually come! I was beginning to lose hope." 

"You know me, professor. I would never pass up my school work." 

McGonagall smiled, before releasing Granger, and let a cough fall from her lips, catching it with her curled up hand. "Mr. Malfoy here is head boy, and you two will be spending a lot of time together. I figure I should leave you two to get whatever needs to be said out. I'll be just outside the door, waiting to see you guys off for your first lesson together. All of your friends should already be there for you, Miss Granger."

"You mean Harry and Ron, right? Everyone seems to think they're the only ones who matter to me." 

"No, I mean Misses Luna Lovegood and Ginerva Weasley, as well as Mr. Neville Longbottom and the rest of your year as well." 

"Luna and Ginny are in seventh year now and Neville's still here?" Hermione asked, a bit of shock evident on her face. 

"Well, the staff agreed, and those who attended last year, though we have more to cover and repair with them, but we are doing that in our own time with two weekly meetings with each student, a kind of therapy as such, all moved up in a year. We would have liked to hold them all back a year, but that hardly seemed fair. And those who were seventh year last year, obviously had the choice whether they would want to come back for a real school year or not. Anyway. I'll be going now," and with that, McGonagall turned on her heels and walke dout of her own office, leaving the two of them alone. 

Draco let out a small cough to let the brown-haired witch know he was still there, to which Hermione turned to face him, no longer looking as sickly as she had before. 

"Malfoy," Granger commented, her eyes alight with a fire Malfoy had seen before; moments before she had socked him in the face back in third year.

"Granger," Draco replied back easily, as if they were old childhood friends. 

Hermione bit her lip and looked to the clock. It was now ten after eleven. "We don't have to say anything you know. I don't think there is anything I want to say to you right now." She still didn't meet his eyes fully. 

"I understand. Shall we just sit here for a few minutes, then?" 

"No, I think McGonagall might be listening to us. How was your summer?"

"It was fine -- rather dull, but when your own mother cant go anywhere, you tend to keep her company. How was yours?"

"Oh -- fine. I was in Australia with my parents."

So that was why no one could find her, Draco thought. "I see." 

"I didn't even tell Harry or Ron -- are they angry? Have you seen them?" 

"Weasle threw a temper tantrum when I saw him at the Hogwarts feast, stormed up to me in the Great Hall and asked me if I had anything to do with your disappearance. He even lifted his arms like he was going to punch me, but thought better of it, being as I have a higher status than he does. I think Potter made him come apologize when, the next day, a post in the Daily Prophet came out about your being back and safe and sound, courtesy of the Minister of Magic. He was so red in the face, I thought he was a talking tomato at first." 

"That sounds about right, and totally like Ron. I really don't want to go face them," Hermione mused, finally turning to meet Draco's eyes. He realized her eyes weren't completely brown, and speckles of a dark green around the irises, something that made her seem a little more approachable, in a way. 

"You won't have to do it alone. I'm sure everyone's all partnered up already, and I didn't have one all year so far, so I'm sure you'll be conned into being my partner. You can sit by me and be mine -- if you'd like -- or I'm sure professor Longbottom wouldn't mind." 

"Professor Longbottom?" Hermione quipped, then, an interested look on her face.

"Oh you are in for a treat -- Longbottom's mother and father came around after the war ended, his mother is amazing, and hands down the best teacher weve ever had."


	5. Chapter 5

A very feminine voice greeted the three of them as they rounded the corner before the entryway to the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom on the third floor, where the class was eerily silent as the voice speaking was talking animatedly about the unforgivable curses and the lasting affects on them. McGonagall had cleared her throat, but the speaker paid no mind to her, and continued rambling. 

"I have been under the Cruciatus curse, so named Crucio, and I can assure you, that it is no laughing manner, and anyone who has experienced the curse at hand, and lived to tell the tale, without being a fraction of the person they once were, should be regarded in the highest of praise--" but the speaker seemed to have trailed off, as Hermione began gasping for breath at the mention of the curse, and all eyes had turned to her in turn. There were echoes of 'Hermione!' And 'Granger!' From all of her classmates, but she had ran off as fast as her two legs could carry her. She fell to the ground and hyperventilated for what seemed like hours, though it could only have been seconds, her mind instantly going back to the Drawing Room in Malfoy Manor; 

 

_"I'd like to have a talk with this one, GIRL-TO-GIRL," The sinister voice that haunted every dream Hermione had since that night screamed out. "What else did you take from my vault, answer me! Crucio!"_

_"Please! We didn't go near your vault! We didn't steal anything! I mean it! It's a fake! It's not the real sword! Please!"_

_A sharp smack to her face and what felt like vile hot spit spewed onto Hermione's skin at that. "Don't lie to me, you filthy little MUDBLOOD!" The voice had called, and a silver dagger had been drawn from the elder witch's sleeves._

"Granger-- listen to me, it's not real, please, snap out of it!" a voice called from beside her, but Hermione was still lost in her trance, oblivious to the crowd that had been pouring around her.

_A faint but persistent voice could be heard screaming her name from the floors below, a familiar voice, but one she could not place. The dark haired witch that had been towering over her had the evilest of smirks on her face as she dug the silver knife into Hermione's skin, and the words Mudblood and Filth etched firmly and seemed to glow as blood flew from the freshly made wounds._

_"Someone get that goblin -- he can atest to her claims on the swords legitimacy or not, NOW! I SAID GO!" The sinister voice had called out to the room at large, and a small squeak had been shouted, and a scuffle had shown someone had left the room._

____

__

_"Please don't hurt me! I didn't do anything!" the witch mimicked as another round of pain echoed through Hermione._

 

Alice Longbottom stopped in front of the display at hand, and fell to her knees in front of the younger witch, shoving Draco Malfoy aside, and running a soothing hand over Hermione's backside, looking up to Minerva McGonagall with the saddest of eyes. "I thought her meeting with you and re-entry talk would have taken the full hour -- everyone wanted to know what to expect, how to treat her, so I was just trying to give them the rundown, I never thought she would walk in until I was onto something else -- this is entirely my fault." 

"Not now, Alice. We need to get her to the hospital wing. Malfoy, Potter, Weasley -- the three of you are strong young men, carry Miss Granger up to the Hospital wing and be careful not to disturb her as best as you can. She is being forced to relive the worst moments of her life and the worst thing for her would be to wake up until she comes out of it on her own," McGonagall had called, shooing the rest of the class out of the way, using the force of her wand for the few that had been too slow to part for the headmistress, though she didn't hurt them. She sent a patronus on ahead to MAdame Pomfrey as she led the way for her entourage. The three young men in question were quick to act, and Hermione had been placed gently between Potter and Weasley's shoulders, with Draco using a gentle levitating charm to keep her feet from hitting the ground, to keep her in a suspended state as they moved her about the castle. Professor Longbottom was following behind the group, a sorrowful expression on her face, with her son standing right beside her. 

"Poppy, it's dire, Miss Granger walked in on a lesson she wasn't meant to overhear and she needs a proper place to lay her head and recover when she wakes. Perhaps a dreamless drought to get rid of the nightmare she is in?" McGonagall called as soon as she had entered the room to the hospital room, though there was no need, as Madame pomfrey had already been in the process of getting everything set up. Word traveled fast around these halls, it seemed.

Harry and Ron gently lowered Hermione onto the empty bed the mediwitch had been preparing, and turned to stare at Professor Longbottom, who had all but fallen to tears at the whole ordeal. 

Harry was the first one to address her, saying something that left the whole room in shock, though his eyes never left Hermione's now resting form, the potion was already taking affect and her thrashing had ceased. "Mrs. Longbottom, you are a strong and very courageous person, and the world would be a worse-off place if you never came around from your condition. It is not your fault that Hermione came into the entryway to your classroom at that moment, it is no one's fault. None of us, no one alive, can know what she is going through right now, besides you. It pains me to say this, as I have been missing and longing for her since she disappeared without a trace, not knowing she left to find her parents, and I will talk to her about everything in due time and get what needs to be said out, but right now, the person she needs the most, is you. Someone who has experienced what she is going through."

It took a moment for anyone else to say anything, but Neville silently nodded and agreed with Harry. "Harrys right, mum. We are all worried about her, and I'm sure Ginny will be here with Luna any moment as soon as she finds her classroom and brings her the news, but right now, we all need to leave, and let you talk to the golden girl in privacy when she wakes up." 

Ron took a moment, as he had been glaring daggers at Draco Malfoy, and wondering why he had been there at all, but he finally registered everything that had been said, and he sighed heavily in resignation. "As much as I want to be the first one she wakes up to, because I love her, and she's my girlfriend," Draco noticed Harry roll his eyes at that and a look of pure hatred crossed the chosen one's face for a fraction of a second, and he wondered what that was about but knew better that to ask, "Harry and Neville are right."

Alice Longbottom looked anything but the fierce Gryffindor everyone in the room knew her to be, but in a moment's notice, she had gathered her courage, and nodded to the room at large, no longer whimpering, and no longer afraid, she looked like a lion about to pounce on its prey as she took the open seat next to Hermione's seemingly lifeless form. 

"You're all right. Go on and get. I can handle this. This was the most defining moment in this girl's life, and I want to be the one to help her come back from it, stronger than ever." 

McGonagall smiled at the woman she had once known for her bravery and courage, and even fought alongside on the very front-lines of battle, a time when the student had surpassed the master, and clapped her hands together. "Alright, I think classes for the lot of you can be skipped for the rest of the day. As well as Ginerva and Luna," the pair of which had just entered the room right as Professor Longbottom had spoken last, "I know your worry for your friend will cloud any learning you may get done, but I suspect Alice here will send for you guys upon Miss Granger's return to sanity. Mr. Malfoy, if I could have a word with you in private."

"Of course, Headmistress," and with that, the whole room was cleared, save for the two witches who shared a similar bond at the hands of one of the most derranged people to have ever walked the Earth. 

 

*****************************************************************************

 

Hermione awoke with a shake as the nightmares that had haunted her from before faded and the dreamless sleep had ended. She took in the familiar look of the hospital wing, but she noted an unfamiliar witch sitting in the seat beside her. She had a kind, round, face, and she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, and dirty blonde hair she recognized as the shade of Neville Longbottom's hair, so she only assumed this was his mother, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Draco had told her about before she passed out, something she seemed to have forgotten how she managed. 

"Oh good, you're awake," a kind voice greeted her, as the seemingly unalert form beside her stood up and repositioned herself on the bed at Hermione's feet. 

"I suppose I am," Hermione muttered out, her voice a little hoarse. 

"Here, have some water, it will help," Mirs. Longbottom replied, already reaching for the pitcher that had just appeared, and pouring the water into a small sterofoam cup.  
"Thanks," Hermione managed, chugging the water in one breath, already beginning to feel better. 

 

"Don't mention it," Mrs. Longbottom smiled down to Hermione, and her eyes crinkled in a way her son's did, and she realized that was where Neville got his facial expressions from. "Do you remember why you are here?" the older witch questioned, her eyes alight with something akin to sympathy. 

"I do not--" Hermione began, before realization come forth. She recognized the voice of the witch beside her, as if from some dream she had.

"You, well, had a panic attack. I was lecturing the class on the lasting affects being tortured can have on a person as everyone knew you were coming back today and they wanted to know how to treat you, and I was meant to move onto something else before you got to my class, but I didn't realize your re-entry meeting would be so short." Mrs. Longbottom cut to the chase, and with much more gusto than Hermione had ever remembered Neville having. 

"Oh--"

"I still remember it. Every moment of it. Every single whimper, every shriek as I somehow fought for my life, even against it all. The piercing laughter of that vile--that evil--that--that--bitch and her friends," Mrs. Longbottom had started, her eyes glazing over, as if they were going back to a very distant memory, being replayed in front of her. "I remember the sixteen years I had been living my life with my memory loss, knowing who everyone was and acknowledging their existence, but not being able to say the words that they wanted to hear. I should have died that night they tortured me; it would have been better for me, for Neville. He grew up with his mother and his father, but we didn't know him. I mean, we did, but we didn't. We couldn't be the people he wanted us to be, we couldn't be there for him in a way he needed us to. His life would have been so much better, if we would have died then. He would never have to worry about us over Christmas breaks, like he always did. Every single Holiday, without fail, he would spend every single day with us. We would always know who he was, what had happened to us, what he meant to us, and why we were the way we were, but we could never let him know how much he meant to us, and that we were proud of the man he was becoming," Alice Longbottom took a long break from her story, as she started to heave out heavy sobs, but no real tears came, and Hermione recognized the form of crying she was using. It was the form of a woman who had no more tears to spend, and Hermione felt for her at the moment, wanted to console her, but she knew the elder witch was sharing this with her to comfort her.

"Neville came to us with stories of his classmates, of the muggleborn witch who was top of her class and excelled in everything she did, of Harry-Freaking-Potter, Lily and James's son, people we knew since we were eleven, and never had time to mourn over their deaths, and of all of the great adventures he had with the lot of you, people he called his friends, his family, even, and we were so proud of him, but all we could manage to display that affection, was gum wrappers. Something he had since shown us. He had kept them all. And do you know what Ii did when I found that out?" Alice asked, though it was a rhetorical question. "I broke down and held him close to me and I bawled my eyes out. He fell asleep in my arms, and I vowed to myself, I would never let that illness I had spent so long in affect me in any way ever again. I had my life back, my boy, my everything. I may not be able to make up for the time I have lost, living in my stasis, but I can, and I will, do everything in my power to make sure the future is as bright to him as it was to me when I was his age, before things got too dark and the first war happened." 

Hermione listened to the story of the older woman, and she suddenly felt much better about her own insecurities, and was about to say as such, when Mrs. Longbottom smiled down to her with the kindest of eyes and friendliest smile she had ever seen. 

"You have two options here, Miss Granger. You can live your life you have been given to the fullest and love like it is your very soul for being, like I have been doing since Ive been free, or you can let what happened to you define who you are, and be the thing people remember about you. Frank, as much as I love him, has been running to his mummy for every little thing since we've been free, and it has really put a strain on us and though I try to stay strong for my boy, and know he has more history with his grandmother than he ever will with me; I will never resent either of them if things turn out for the worst and I am the one left in the dark. Because I have a second chance at life; at freedom, and it feels damn good, you know?"

Hermione smiled herself; she realized, then, it was hard to stay sad and in her feelings, when Alice Longbottom was around. She just seemed to be the type of person to keep everyone happy, and much like Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had been in the few short years she had known the pair of them. She had to remember Alice came from the same time as them, and was even friends and partners with them for the war. Surely she would have the same mannerisms as they did, or maybe they got some of it from her, who could know? 

"Thanks, Mrs. Longbottom, this is exactly what I needed." 

"Any time -- but please, call me Alice. Mrs. Longbottom is Augusta and I know she would scold anyone who called me as such, no matter how many times over I have proved myself worthy for her name."

Hermione smiled again, and felt her eyes closing, drifting off to a more peaceful sleep, one where she dreamed there had never been a war; a first one, or otherwise; and all of her friends were still her friends, happy as can be. A young redheaded woman who strangely resembled Ginny, minus the eyes, and a black haired male couple waved Harry off on the train platform; a younger Alice Longbottom and a Man with the same pudgy build Neville had when he was younger smiling beside them; Hermione's own parents laughing along to the Weasley's chattering aimlessly, and even a friendlier looking Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, hugging Draco goodbye, as he left them, to his friends, which just happened to surprisingly be Hermione and her gang of misfits. The only speck of green in the everlasting sea of red. Luna's father was running to keep up with the train as it sped off, as he waved Luna off to her first year of Hogwarts, with a smiling Ginny Weasley gazing out the window toward her parents, Luna's hand in hers, excitement evident on both of their young faces as they faced their first adventure together.


	6. Chapter 6

"Mr. Malfoy, I expect you know what I want to say to you?" Minerva McGonagall's voice called as they entered the abandoned classroom beside the hospital wing. 

"I do not, Headmistress." 

"I know you know I overheard your entire conversation with Miss Granger earlier, and I know you two had begun something of a friendship, or at least, an understanding," A long pause, as the headmistress caught her breath. She was getting up there in age, Draco realized, and and he knew it was getting harder for her to stay strong when she had to reprimand people. "I am not opposed to you doing so, believe me, but for the time being, I think it would be best if you stayed away from Miss. Granger. Let her come to you on her own, do I make myself clear? I do not know what is going on with her, but I do know that any chance of recovery might be slim if she were to be faced with the nephew of the person who had put her through so much pain."

"But professor--our duties--this was all your idea--to help me out--you said--" 

"I know what I said, and I stand by it. But for now I am amending everything. You still have your duties to the school, as will Miss Granger, but for now, I want you to avoid her. Mr. Longbottom can pass along any messages the two of you might have for each other. I am sorry, Mr. Malfoy, I really am, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. I really am looking forward to a time when the two of you can coexist in harmony and work to repairing our glorious school, but now is not that time. Surely, you understand me."

Great. There went one of Draco's plans for allying himself with someone who could help speed along his path to redeeming his public image. "Yes, professor, I understand." 

"Good, now off you go. You do not have to go to class, but I do not want you going to Miss. Granger, either. Have a nice afternoon, Mr. Malfoy."

*******************************************************************************

The weekend came and went by with no significant event in Draco's mind. He did his rounds, and sat in on detentions while professors enjoyed their days off; it wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time; the whole of his dormitory and year hated him, he had stuck to the headmistress's wishes and avoided seeking out Granger, his only seem-to-be-ally in all of this. The only thing he could think of to make anything out of note had been the nod he had received from Potter, and he knew it was more from pity than from actual acknowledgement. Draco had been quick, the first one to Granger, to try and stop her from her living nightmare, but that was only because he had been right beside her when it had started, and the first one to notice. He was sure Potter would have beaten him out to it, and sure he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been right there. Granger was never one to make a grand appearance, but there they were, in the middle of the third floor corridors, her screaming her lungs out and lashing out to everyone as she relived her darkest days.

Draco nodded as one of the students mentioned it was seven PM, and therefore detention was over, and he waved them off, standing up to follow them out the door. He wondered where he could go. His housemmates had made it clear he hadn't been welcome in the common rooms, and especially his own dorm room. He had spent most of his nights patrolling the corridors, and relying on pepper-up potion to keep himself awake; the only thing that kept him remotely sane was Luna Lovegood, whom he found to be even as enchanting out of captivity as she had been in it.   
"Good evening, Malfoy," Luna greeted easily, her eyes glazing over as she glanced anywhere but Malfoy's, almost like she had been in a dreaming state, as he met her at the bottom of the grand staircase as they began their rounds for the night. She had stepped up to be Head Girl while Granger spent the weekend recovering. 

"I asked you not to call me that," Draco supplied rather unhelpfully as they began to walk towards the entrance hall. They were beginning the patrol of the grounds then, as they passed Longbottom and Nott, the latter of which who spared Luna a small smile, but gave Draco the worst of sneers and a snide comment about traitors and male appendages, though he was cut off quickly by a loud cough from Longbottom. 

Draco, growing ever tired of his housemmates treating him like a pile of dragon dung, was about to say something, when Luna's small but firm voice nearly shouted, "Theo! R and R!" 

Theodore and Neville paused, turning to face the other pair of adult wizards and the tension in the air was so thick. 

"No," Theodore bit out, his usually handsome face, was now turned up in the most distasteful of fashions. 

"Don't make me tell my father on you! You wouldn't like a bad word from him, seeing as he's the one who took you in and all, and gave you a proper second chance everyone deserves!" Luna replied back, the former dreamlike qualities gone from her face, and she was all business at that point. This was someone Draco realized had faced down his aunt on the forefront of battle with Granger and Weaslette at her side and lived to breathe another day from it. She was totally a different person when she was serious, and he could see why Potter had aligned himself with her; the woman standing beside him, she, was a force to be reckoned with. He could see then, from that little exchange, how she had survived in his dungeons; she was not afraid to stand up for herself and would do anything to get her point across, even blackmail. Draco made a mental note to not be put on Looney's bad side. 

Theodore took a moment, contemplating, a moment of sheer panic crossed his features but no one there recognized it; only Draco, whom had known him since the two of them were in nappies. Draco knew the person who got the final say in whether Theodore was improving and deserving enough for a fraction of his old life back was Lovegood senior. His features became handsome again, and a smile, so fake it seemed real, graced his features, "What I meant to say, Malfoy, is that I am ever so happy you and your family get to live the rest of your lives, while the rest of us have nothing to call our own anymore. Have a GREAT rest of your evening! But do not be expecting us to be welcoming you around for biscuits in the commons any time soon," and with that, he disappeared, Longbottom following along beside him, turning to look, apologetically or with pity, Draco couldn't tell from the distance, back at the pair of blondes. 

Luna sighed heavily at that, but she shook her head. "That was so wrong of him, I am so sorry. If I'd have known they were the ones who had just been out there, I would have suggested we gone a different way."

"It's fine, nothing I'm not used to."

"No, it's not fine-- are all of your housemates still giving you trouble?" 

Draco smiled down to her, having realized he was a whole head taller than her in the moment. "Really it's nothing I can't handle--" 

"The wrackspurts are buzzing around your ears again -- you seem unwell, they are worried. Have you been sleeping at all?" Luna asked, reaching a hand up to feel Draco's forehead, the first physical interaction he had since his mother's hug that summer. And he wondered how someone like her could even stand to be near him, much less touch him.

"Do you want me to be honest?" At the girl's persistent nod, Draco shook his head. 

"What a shame. Pepper-up potions and cheering charms can only go so far," Luna added in contempt, though Draco wondered how she had figured it out. Perhaps she, too, had faced the issues he had going for him now at one point. He remembered everyone used to make fun of her and steal her belongings. It was once a pastime for students of all ages at the school, and Draco remembered one time he had stolen her shoes by magical means and placed them high above everyone's head, attached to a random candle holder too far above anyone's reach to get down without magic. Something he regretted deeply in the moment. 

They neared the lake, and, upon examination, found no students had been out causing mischief. Luna turned to him, and smiled, her eyes growing foggy as her brain seemed to be whirling. "I have an idea! You can lie down here, and sleep. I can keep an eye out and make sure no one messes with you. The grounds take hours to patrol, we can go back up in two to three hours and no one can be the wiser and say we didn't do it." 

If Draco Malfoy could pick anyone to watch his back on their own without any backup, it definitely would not have been Luna Lovegood; admire her as he did in the few interactions they had, and though she could be unyielding fierce when the time came, he knew she had a tendency to space out at the most inopportune times, and all anyone needed to mess with him, was a single moment. But he was in no position to judge, and truth be told, he was beyond exhausted, so he simply nodded, and allowed himself to curl up, using the hood of his robes as a pillow, with only Lovegood to watch his backside. 

He fell asleep dreaming of simpler times, before the war had happened; when he and all of his friends in Slytherin had been friends and loyal to each other, no malice evident in their younger features. He wished he could go back to that in his waking hours but he knew that was something that would have to come in time, and he hoped it would. He laughed along with his dream self as Crabbe and Goyle got an earful from Parkinson as they had messed with her dressrobes and turned them the color of her skin, two things that should never be worn together, as too much of the same color clashed, Parkinson always said.

************************************************************************

Draco woke to loud waves beating against the shore, and a small feminine figure in the distance, standing at the shoreline as the water met her bare feet. He stood up and streched his muscles, before he finally realized what had happened earlier. He went to greet Luna, standing just out of the way of the incoming waves as he motioned for her. 

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," the witch called, a twinkle in her eyes. Draco wondered if that was some muggle greeting as he had never heard it before, but decided it better than to ask. 

"How long was I out?" 

Lovegood seemed to ponder for a minute, before pointing to the stars. "Those two constellations were almost overhead us where we are now as soon as they appeared, but now they've moved South-West about a whole arm's length in terms of measurement we can use without proper materials."

"In English?" 

"About three and a half hours."

"And you didn't wake me?"

"You looked so peaceful and the wackspurts finally left you alone, how could I?" 

Draco looked taken aback by that, but he busied himself with shaking off his robes. 

"I know you doubted my ability to watch over you -- it was evident in your face as we made the agreement. And I know your doubt wasn't completely unwarranted, but try, for my sake, to be a little more discreet next time I offer to help you. I had a few shield charms placed up around us the moment I proposed the plan, just in case my mind did wander to something else and I lost focus. But as I'm sure you must have felt, they were still up. No one tried to disturb you under my watch, though the merpeople were curious as to why I was standing guard for you, and questioned as such. I had just finished speaking to them when you interrupted, and rightfully so, they had very harsh things to say about you." 

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, though he knew the witch was right, he had taken her help for granted for a second time, and it was all he could do to not condemn himself further. 

"I want to help you and have done nothing but been kind to you. I know you want to change, and are trying to, but you need to do the rest on your own and not be afraid to let people in. I can only do so much. Now, let's go back to the castle, I'm sure McGonagall was expecting us to report an hour ago."

This was the same woman from earlier who had given his former friend an earful; the same woman who had survived his dungeons; the same woman he needed on his side, if he was to make it to Christmas alive and not completely mental.

He made a mental note to thank Lovegood appropriately for all she had done for him, and in good time, he would. 

"Oh and how does Dragon sound?" Lovegood asked as they neared the castle. 

"What do you mean?"

"For a name for you. You asked me not to call you Malfoy, but I feel as if I'm not close enough to you for formalities yet. So how about Dragon? It's technically your name, after all, but it isn't. You can call me Looney, everyone else does, and I know you've been refraining from doing so, but until we get better acquainted, Luna seems unfair." 

And for the third time, that day alone, Draco Malfoy was left speechless at the enigmatic being that was Luna Lovegood.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been avoiding Hermione's re-introduction to all of her friends, **IF YOU GUYS COULDN'T TELL**, because I just didn't know what to do, or how to put everything. I just know I don't want to have Ron freak out on her and be jealous about why she decided to leave, like literally everyone else does, because, a) sure he has a temper and what not, it's the Weasley way, but he would NEVER treat Hermione that way. He might degrade her and put her down mentally, but he would never intentionally shut her out for going to seek her parents and treat her like crap for doing so, and b) Ginny and Harry would murder him if he even got close to that point, then Molly would resurrect him, then murder him again.

Hermione's talk with Professor Longbottom the few nights before when she had returned had been everything she had needed to renew her spirits, and she took to ordering one of the house elves Hogwarts employed to gather up all of the assignments she had missed, and the necessary books. She had been told, numerous times, by McGonagall and Flitwick alike, that she didn't have to do all of the ones she had missed in the week she had been gone, but that was so unlike her that she couldn't bear the thought of doing so, and got right to it, even offering the pocket change that had been in her pocket for the elf as a tip for the service. 

She began to work on her essay she had missed for Transfiguration about the rules and magical laws to becoming an animagus, something they could very well sign up to do now they were in their final year, when a knock had sounded from the entrance to the hospital wing. She turned on her spot to see who her visitor was, as she was the only one occupying the whole room. It was Harry. She visibly gulped, but moved her stack of books to one of her bedside tables, and motioned for him to come in. 

"I was wondering when you would show up," Hermione admitted, finally moving her essay aside as she took him in. He didn't seem mad or angry, just worried for her well-being. 

Harry crossed the room in three very quick strides and embraced Hermione in a tight hug, afraid she would disappear again. "Never leave me for three months without letting me know what is going on again." 

Hermione breathed in his familiar scent of pine and lemongrass and exhaled slowly, so as to not let the smell leave her easily. "I don't plan on it."

"Seriously, Hermione. No note, nothing. I thought---I thought--" 

"I know, Harry, but I'm fine."

"I don't know if I want to slap you, hug you again, kiss you, ask you questions only you would know, or cry. Or all of the above." 

"I'd be fine with any of those things, Harry. I've missed you so much!" 

"I've missed you, too, Hermione. How are your parents?" 

"They are fine. They decided to stay in Australia. I'm hoping to visit them on Christmas holidays." 

"The Weasleys are having a big memorial for Fred over the holidays, the first time without him, can you at least come to that?" 

"I have to see how I deal with Ron first--"

"Oh, right, that." 

"Don't act like that! You know how he gets!" 

"Oh, I know. Believe me, I do." and Harry had the most grave look on his face but Hermione knew better than to ask him to elaborate. If he wanted to share what happened, he would. In time. But she couldn't help herself.

"Was it really that bad?" 

"Every single day it was the poor me act, and he kept wondering why he wasn't enough to keep you grounded; to keep you here."

"I really don't want to do this--"

"No, you really don't. And you shouldn't have to. But I do have to ask. Do you love him?"

"Not in the way he wanted me to. We got caught up in the heat of battle and shared a few kisses; but it was never more than that! I love him, I did love him that way, once upon a time, and maybe I could have seen myself ending up with him a few years earlier. But now, after everything, it's just the same way I love you, like my own brother. I regretted kissing him as soon as it happened, and for him to parade me around after the battle like I was some prize to be won, that just isn't me--" Hermione was cut off by a loud coughing sound of someone clearing their throat, and the pair of them broke up their conversation and embrace to see Ron standing there in the entryway. 

"I really am glad you're back, Hermione," was all the redhead said, before he turned on his heels and disappeared from view. 

Harry exhaled a sharp breath and slapped himself across the face. He really shouldn't have gossiped about his best friend like that, but who else could he gossip to, besides the only person who would understand where he was coming from? Plus they had both been expecting more of an outburst when she had told him, so it was lucky he had found out the way he did, rather than any other way. They continued talking for a few minutes and sharing stories of the past few months, the only time they had spent apart for the last three years, when Luna and Ginny appeared. The two of them seemed attached at the hip lately, and who could blame them after everything that had conspired in these halls last year. 

Luna informed the trio of seventh year Gryffindors she was determined to help Draco Malfoy on his path to redemption, like she was with Theodore Nott, and she would like for their approval and help in doing so, something Ginny had laughed at for a moment, before realizing she had been serious, and Harry, after a long moment of staring at his girlfriend's confused face, finally admitted the group of them there in that room, would be the best option for the two former princes of Slytherin. Neville joined them soon after that and they all made a solemn pact to try their best efforts to help Luna along with her shenanigans. She had explained to them about her night she spent patrolling with "Dragon" and how his housemates wouldn't even let him in their common room, and the first goal on their agenda was to find a place for Draco Malfoy to be able to rest his head for a full night, as people tended to stay grumpy without sleep, and there would be no hope otherwise. The room of requirement was obviously out, as it had been burned to smithereens by cursed fire during the battle. Even if the group of them had to stand guard all night ever night in turns, they would make that happen. Luna had a fierceness about her that whenever she had something planned, her friends just went along with it, without question. There was a reason Neville had trusted her to help him run Dumbledore's Army in Harry's absence.

 

**************************************************************************

Draco Malfoy stared down at the piece of parchment he had been writing on for the last two hours, none of what he had written made any sense, and he all but crumbled it up,when a small fit of laughter sounded from the other side of him. He turned on his seat in the library and noticed Looney with her little gang walking up to him. It was nearing eight at night, and he had gotten no work done, and had been up for all of almost a week, minus the three hours he managed to get with Looney, and he had no patience for them at that moment. He noticed Granger had been among them, and she looked happy, healthy, and nothing like the girl who had been seizing and rasping for air a few days prior. He stood up and left the room, passing by the group, sneering at them as he all but ran from them. He had made a promise to headmistress McGonagall that he would avoid Granger until she came to him on her own; but did it count when she showed up with her gaggle of friends? 

He heard Luna call out the given name she had for him, and he almost stopped to see what she wanted, but he didn't, he just kept going. He kept running until he collapsed just outside of the Grand Hall entrance, out of breath from his lack of rest, and he knew he could be in better shape if he could just get some much needed sleep. He was gasping for air when a gentle hand found his back and began rubbing circles around it. He recognized the ginger hair and freckled face beside him and did all he could to not vomit in front of the young woman. 

"Malfoy, relax, it's okay, you can breathe," Weaslette, whose name slipped Draco's memory called. He noticed her friends weren't around anymore, but he looked up to meet her eyes, and she smiled back down to him, something he didn't deserve. He had been horrible to these people, had called them names and tormented them relentlessly for all of their school lives, why are they being so quick to treat him with acceptance? He realized,then, thinking on it, Weaslette had the friendliest of faces of the bunch of them, and deep blue eyes that seemed to have understanding behind them. Perhaps that was why they sent her. She had the nicest face. And her eyes, they reminded him of his mother's. That was probably why his breathing had begun to be normal again so quickly as he stood up to face her after that. 

"What do you guys want from me?" 

"We want to help you. Against our better judgement at first, believe me, but Luna seems to see something in you, and when she's onto something, we never question it. It's what being friends with someone means." 

"I had friends once -- they all think I abandoned them and turned their families in and now want my head skewered and on a plate for brunch."

"There's the Draco Malfoy I have come to loathe. It's been a long time since you've graced our presence, it didn't quite feel like Hogwarts." 

"I've been a little preoccupied if you haven't noticed, you know, trying to stay alive and all that in a house full of people who want me dead." 

"That's why we want to help. We know where you can spend a night and get a full rest, and we will all guard and watch over you. We might not be friends, but even so, we could not bear to watch you self-destruct on yourself the way you have been." 

There was that Gryffindor spirit; always wanting to help those in need, and Draco hated to be the one to admit it, but he did need their help, whether he wanted it, or not. He supposed allying himself with that bunch wouldn't be the worst mistake of all, and after all, he had made some major headway with Looney, perhaps her gang of misfits was not as bad as he had thought before. 

"I mean, don't get me wrong. This doesn't make us friends or anything. Far from it. And if you ever do anything to break Luna's trust, I will personally see to the skewering of your head and placement above the Slytherin common room's fireplace for roasting." Ginny--that was her name, Draco recalled vaguely--added after his prolonged silence. "Plus Hermione told us she had made a sort of alliance with you when she first returned, before....you know. I respect both of them, and if they see something in you, I do, too. Now come on, my offer won't stand for long. It's bloody freezing out here." She had taken off her jacket, a worn-down leather one, that once upon a time, could have been beautiful, but was now held in parts by very old stitching, and Draco wondered the history of it, until she put it over him and ushered him inside, where the rest of her friends were waiting. He took note of the male Weasle's absence, something that would usually delight him, but now just made him weary of the group as he wondered what had happened as they ushered him to the seventh floor where the Gryffindor common room was, but off to the side, to an abandoned classroom, where a comfortable looking pillow mattress lay waiting. He didn't think twice, didn't know if he could fully trust the group of people he had just put his life in the hands of, but he didn't really much care. The mattress was welcoming, and Weaslette's jacket was big enough to cover most of his middle, so he didn't complain. He fell into an easy sleep, completely aware of the group gathered around him, and their hushed whispers as they pondered what they were getting themselves into, and whether they could trust him, a Malfoy, or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, he gave a small cough to acknowledge he was there, then left, to be alone for a while, but he will be back, completely understanding and supportive of whatever Hermione chooses, because T H A T is Ron. Loyal and caring to the end for his FRIENDS.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what the whole of this fic is and am winging the whole damn thing completely, lmao  
> I've lost my mind completely, and I am sorry

Hermione had been guarding Draco on her own, seeing as she was the only one the rest of the group trusted to not lose focus and need backup; and being head girl, as well as the brightest witch of her age, did not hurt, either. Unwelcome people would know to stay away if they were to peak their heads inside, and see her there. Harry and Ginny had snuck out for a late night trip to Hogsmeade to get a few pints to drink, as they hadn't had much time to just themselves since being back, what with having worried about Hermione so much, and finally having that out of their minds, was a blessing to them. Luna had gone down to the owlery to owl her father with happenings in Theodore's life, Neville had gone to the Gryffindor common room in search of Ron, so it had just been her for the better of an hour. It was nearing midnight now, Draco had been asleep for nearly four hours, and he looked rather peaceful when he slept, the brunette witch had noticed, as she took in the appearance of the blonde laying before her. A small smile crept onto her face as she watched, and she realized, perhaps, in another time, in another universe, he could really have been their friend during school years. He hadn't been all bad since they've been hanging around him, though she had to remind herself he had been exhausted to the point he literally passed out as soon as his head lay down. And an exhausted Draco Malfoy was no fun for anyone. He needed to be well-rested, and she was sure he would go back to his sarcastic ways. 

Ginny had told them about her small talk with Malfoy; of course she had; there were no secrets oin their group. They had all been through too much to have any of that now, and Hermione had wanted to laugh at her impersonation of Malfoy, as it had been nearly spot on, but she had thought better of it. It wouldn't do to make fun of him without his being able to defend himself. If there was one thing she could say about the blond male laying before her, he always seemed to make sure people could defend themselves, before he said things to bring them down; it would only be fair to do the same courtesy to him, as well.

Ron had come to seek her out, just after she had been alone for almost two hours. His eyes had been red, and his voice was hoarse, like he had been forcing himself to not break down, and she wondered what Neville had told him. 

"You know, you could have told me how you felt, and I would have accepted it. I do love you, Hermione, and whether you want me as a friend or a boyfriend, you know I will always support you and everything you do," was the first thing the ginger-haired male had said to her, before she had really registered he had been there. Hermione bit her lip, waiting for him to continue, but when he didn't, she sighed in near frustration as she ran her hand through her hair. 

"I know, Ronald. I just didn't want to hurt you. You mean so much to me, I didn't want to push you away."

"You could never push me away again. I always hated fighting with you when we were younger and more dumber. There was always no reason for it.And I get what you meant when I overheard you talking to Harry. When we were around twelve to even well into our sixth year when I was dating Lavender, that was when I wanted you. I could see myself being with you back then, growing old together, being happy, sure, we fought, but everyone does," he took a deep breath, then, and he ran his fingers through his hair, a smile forming on his lips, and Hermione remembered that smile; it was the Ron she knew and loved; her friend; her companion; her confidant; someone she shared half of her life with, and so much more than just her life; he had been her first love, someone she could have settled for under different circumstances, but war changed people. Changed the way they saw the world. It definitely changed her feelings towards him, and made her see him as a comrade in arms, a brother, a lifelong companion with an unspoken vow of loyalty to. "But sometime, during the war, and just after Dumbledore's death when we were fighting all of those Death Eaters in the Astronomy tower, and you got knocked out by those jinxes, I didn't long for my girlfriend or partner. I was enraged and stood by your side because I was worried. Harry had gone running off after Snape, you were down for the count, and I felt like two whole parts of me were gone. I had no idea if Harry had been okay, or what had gone down with him and Dumbledore, and there you were, unconscious, and I longed for my sister. I hated being the one standing and trying to protect you, because you were always so much better at it than I was. It took me years to see it, but that's all you were to me. My older sister." Another breath, as he let all of his emotions out, in a more healthy way than Hermione had ever known he could, and she felt better, then, happy, maybe, they could move along, and stay a proper family after all, after everything was said and done. 

"The kisses during the final battle for the war meant nothing; it was just something in the heat of the moment; I know that. I knew it then. I claimed you as my girlfriend, because that was what everyone expected of us, and I didn't know what else to do. I had no intention of hurting you, or making you feel uncomfortable. I really hope you know that. I love you, Hermione Jean Granger. I always have. It just took me remembering you laying there unconscious during one of the darkest nights of our lives, for me to realize that. I practiced what I was going to say to you with Neville just before I came to you, to make sure it was okay. He nearly punched me in the face for not letting you know how I felt sooner, and it would have been something I deserved." he finally finished his confession, before turning to Malfoy, finally realizing he was there. He sneered down at the sleeping form, though there was no actual malice in it; more like, he was wondering what his friends had been doing all day without him. "Malfoy?" He asked, turning back to his best friend, and Hermione finally let the breath she didn't realize she had been holding out. 

"It's Luna's idea. Don't ask. We're trying to help him be a better person, and so far, it has been working to our advantage. He was running himself ragged and not sleeping because his housemates wouldn't let him in their common room, and he collapsed as soon as his head hit the pillow. I feel kind of sorry for him," Hermione mentioned at his questionable gaze, her eyes raving over the blonde again. 

"I don't. He does kind of deserve it, and I do see why they would force him out; he's a right prat, but I guess -- even he has his limits he can take some times. You can go get some sleep, I can watch him." 

"Why don't we do it together? I have an essay I need to finish, you can keep me company. I've missed you so much, and don't want to ruin our reconnecting." 

"Sure, I'd like that," Ron commented, sitting down beside her, and they chattered aimlessly. He asked about her parents and how their lives were going, and she answered his questions with ease. She asked how everyone was doing since Fred's passing and though he was reluctant to talk about it at first and shot her an accusatory glance that she hadn't been there for him for, he finally filled her in about how Molly still woke up crying every night, how George had gone practically mute for the better half of the three months, but was finally starting to look more like himself. She finished working on her essay, though she would not tell him, it was actually for Draco. She had seen him struggling in the library and wanted to help him out. He had spent literally all of his time the last week doing his head boy duties, in a constant zombie-like state from lack of sleep, and it was the least she could do for him. Ginny and Harry joined the pair of them an hour later, once bars had closed, and they all clinked together bottles of butterbeer, as they watched the former Slytherin prince, sleep his life away, seemingly oblivious to all that was going on around him. 

***********************************************************************

Two weeks had gone by since the term had started and their first tests were upon them; Hermione had done all of her schoolwork the whole of her friends had been assigned in just the week she had been back alone, and everyone wondered how she managed such a heavy workload with her head girl duties, which she had finally fallen into the Monday after she had returned, with relative ease. In truth, Draco Malfoy had been a very good help. In between his sleep and her guard duty over him, when he would wake and request some water from the witch, he would bounce ideas off for her, and she had to admit, he was actually really smart, and on par with even herself. How she had never realized that before, was a mystery. They just never had any proper time together, she realized. 

Luna's plan had gone along swimmingly, and the group of Gryffindors as well as herself had begun watching Draco in shifts. Hermione got Monday nights from midnight to three in the morning, as well as Wednesday nights from ten pm to one am, and Friday nights from one am until sunrise. Luna would pop in from time to time to make sure people were actually taking their pre-planned ahead of time shifts, and so they chattered together for a bit. He didn't do much sleeping when Hermione or Luna were around, she would often have to wake him with a question or another, and a promise it would be the last time for the night each time, or to announce she was going to do her rounds, so he could catch up on some more sleep, and that she would place enchantments so no one knew he was there, as well as a few wards to keep people out who may have figured it out. Luna and Draco had begun to call each other by their real names by that point, as they were, as Luna said, becoming fast friends, something Draco never seemed disgusted at, though everyone else kept to calling him Malfoy. Ron had accepted his shifts with little to no persuasion, but opted to do it in the earlier hours of the evening, so he could keep well rested himself, as quidditch was a very demanding sport, and he needed his rest. But things were coming together nicely after his chat with Hermione.

Theodore was a different story, as he spent all of his time parading around his Slytherin friends and glaring at the group of Gryffindors and Luna as they walked around the school, with Draco Malfoy following behind their posse, still seemingly unsure of where he fit in with all of them. Luna had threatened to owl her father, and she did, and a howler had gone to Theodore's spot at the Slytherin table on Thursday evening, and all of the Slytherins had paled, but he hadn't sent them any angry glances since, so it was well worth it. Things were finally looking up, and the brightest witch of her age, was glad to be back on top of everything.

 

**********************************************************************************

Draco was always left wondering what he did to deserve such an amazing group of people watching over him; he was finally beginning to see why the lot of them fit together so well. Luna was like a glue, constantly mending the broken wounds from the past, and was definitely the reason the lot of them were so chipper as of late. He knew them taking care of him was all her doing, and he thanked her from the bottom of his heart, and knew he would have to get her the best gifts for Christmas. She was growing on him more and more each day, and he had begun to see her as a best friend of sorts, she certainly was better to him than any of his other friends back in his own house had ever been. 

Hermione offered him intellectual stimulation and the two of them had a few spats now and then and disagreements over coursework, but they always made out okay. He had thanked her for doing his essay for him and turned it in under his own name. She had copied his writing to a near science and he was grateful she had done so. He had been nearly failing Transfiguration because he had been late turning it in, but McGonagall had called the both of them to her office and lectured him on copying, to which Hermione stood up for him and told her they worked on it together, and deserved the full marks because of it. It was, after all, McGgonagall's idea the two of them spend time together in the first place. He had even caught her staring at him with a look of wonder when he was laying without actually sleeping one night through his eyelids, though he chalked that one up to imagination. There was no reason she, a war hero, would ever stare at him with anything but disdain, no matter how quickly he was fitting into their group.

When he had awoken the first morning, he thought he had a dream of Weasley and her chatting beside his sleeping form, but upon seeing Weasley there, passed out beside his friend's feet, he knew it had been real. He was happy the two of them had made amends; he knew Weasley needed Hermione as much as Draco himself needed the group of them to keep him safe. He was surprised, however, to see Weasley watching him by himself when he had awoken once during the former's shift for a glass of water, though he fell asleep right after he had downed it, a feat which caused a humorless laugh from Weasley.

A week had gone by since the arrangement had been made, and he was finally caught up on his sleep, and felt rested enough to begin taking over his duties again. He was gaining his weight back, and finally was feeling like it was safe for him to eat at meals; people at his table wouldn't dare poison him under the watchful eye of the golden trio as well as their friends. He finally felt safe; like he belonged somewhere. Even Ginny had stopped threatening him every time he was being a prat, and just laughed it off and told him to bug off, which was a good sign. He knew she had the worst temper out of all of them, despite her usually cheerful demeanor. 

It was then the Saturday of the second week of school, and Draco had finally put his foot down and let them know they didn't need to baby him so much anymore, and that he was fine enough to be able to return to his duties. Neville had taken over in his absence, something he was thankful for, and he hated owing Longbottom favors something he knew the latter would make good on in time. 

"Hermione, I am fine, let me come with you," Draco commented, as he stood up from the bed finally, feeling relaxed and refreshed. Ginny and Harry grunted from the floor below and pulled apart from a seemingly intimate moment they had been having beforehand. So much for Ginny's watch over him.

"Just take one more night to relax and take it easy. You went a week without sleeping or eating, your body needs to recover properly. You can join me tomorrow night, and we can discuss a lighter guard duty with Luna in the morning. As for you two, at least make sure our prisoner is asleep before you go at it like a bunch of wolves in heat. I'm off to do my rounds, just wanted to check in. Luna and I are patrolling the dungeons together." It was an unspoken rule they all go in pairs for their rounds of the dungeons, as all of them had been put under Slytherins hit-list for their protection of Draco Malfoy, not that they already weren't for their part in the war; that was just the final nail in the coffin.

And with that, she left him alone, with Ginny and Potter, who were looking more like deer in headlights than actual human beings. 

 

*************************************************************************

 

The next morning, Luna got the group of six others gathered into the room, and thanked them all for helping her out with her madness. "I know it's been a rough week, but we pulled through. We just have to keep this up for another six and a half months, but at least we can cut shifts back now. We can all do one day a week since Draco also has to do his own patrols until midnight at the earliest, so whoever is on guard duty that night can rest until then and not be at a complete loss," The blonde witch addressed the room at large, a new spreadsheet out in front of her. "That leaves one day where Draco would be alone but at least he has six others where he can rest and not be a complete arse on, and one day of no sleep is better than a whole week. Any objections?" 

"Can you not talk about me like I am not here, and I object to being called an arse," Draco replied cooly, a roll of his eyes. 

Weasley replied back with a loud chuckle. "But you've always been an arse, Malfoy, just less of one since we've taken you in. Admit it, you're falling for our charms."

"In your dreams, Weasley."

"What, no insults? That is not the Draco Malfoy I remember, didn't we have that conversation a few days ago?" Ginny pitched in with a small giggle of her own. "He must be falling for one of us -- any guesses as to who? Malfoy wouldn't change this much on his own accord."

"My guess is Neville," Harry supplied, to which everyone looked at him in confusion. 

"Why me!" Neville supplied, raising his hands up in surrender. 

"You do have a nice charm about you, something endearing. Who could blame him if he had?" Hermione added her own input, the group was now getting a little carried away, but it was fun to do so after the seriousness of the last week. 

"You have a nice butt," Ginny supplied rather unhelpfully, Harry glared, but laughed through it.

"You kind of do--" Harry replied with a grin, to which Ginny slapped his arm playfully. "Hey we can look at the menu as long as we don't act on it."

"Yeah but I'm not going to lose my boyfriend to Neville Longbottom and his nice butt, so keep your eyes on me, or I will hex you all into oblivion." Ginny finished, more malice in her voice than she intended, and she realized as much, so she hid her face in Harry's chest with a muttered "sorry" and that was the end of the conversation about Neville's rear-end. 

"Moving on!" Luna commented aloud, already ahead of everyone else. "Sunday is usually the day of rest, in most religions, so we absolutely cannot have that night be the one he goes without sleep; it would be rather cruel. I was thinking Saturdays, being as it's the only day we all have no classes for. Hermione can take watch on Wednesdays as that is the slowest night for patrols, Ron can do Thursdays as he never places quidditch practice on those days, Neville Mondays, Harry Tuesdays, myself Fridays, and Ginny on Sundays. Any objections? No? Great. Meeting adjourned!" And with that, the lot of them went down to Hogsmeade for a weekend day of fun, the whole school forgotten but the group of them there.

Draco just wondered when he had started to think of all of them as their real names rather than last names, minus for the male Weasley.


	9. Chapter 9

On Saturday, September 26th, a full three weeks of school had gone by, two weeks since Luna had arranged for all of them to be helping Draco Malfoy, and Hermione had to admit to herself he was not as bad as he could have been. Sure, he had his moments when the old Draco Malfoy shined through, but he seemed to be genuinely happy for once. McGonagall announced at dinner time that they would be holding a Christmas themed ball before the Christmas holidays, to support inter-house relationships, and encouraged everyone to ask around the school for dates outside of their own houses.She had no idea who she could possibly take, and never really had much in way of relationships besides the week she was with Ron, and the six months she spent getting to know Viktor Krum. She was helpless and didn't know who to turn to but was interrupted from that thought as she turned the corner in the dungeons to see Draco, laying on the ground, with a few cuts on his arms, and his jeans torn up with gashes where blood began to spew. She noticed Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, and Millicent Bullstrode (who had been held back a few years since she was dumber than a box of rocks though this year was her final shot), laughing with their wands aimed at him. Hermione was smart enough to get the fake galleons rounded up from their fifth year and have them be used again during these trying times, so she pressed down onto her galleon and thought a short message to get backup. "Dungeons, Dragon hurt. Need backup," the coin said, and when it started to heat up, she knew the message had sent. 

Hermione had always been a quick draw with her wand, and even quicker to think up spells to shoot towards her enemies, but even she, could not take on three wizards the same age as her with the same amount of training, though probably a bit more on the darker side on their end. She ducked back behind the corner as they noticed she had been there, her wand out. 

"COME OUT, COME OUT, LITTLE MUDBLOOD," Millicent called, her voice getting on Hermione's nerves. Didn't she know times were changing and people didn't use that word anymore? 

"Yeah, we want to make you as colorful as we've made your boyfriend here," Pansy called, her voice a little sad sounding at the word 'boyfriend,' and Hermione had to remind herself she had a thing for Draco since they had been children but how anyone could think her and Draco were together was beyond her; they were barely friends but two weeks, and were mortal enemies before then. 

Her galleon burned hot in her pocket again, and she knew it was one of her friends saying they were nearly there, so she sprung into action, diving back around the corner and sending a stunning spell towards the three horrible people before her, being quick to duck around a suit of armor as they sent their own nasty looking purple curse at her. She heard a small squeak, so her spell must have been close to hitting one of them. 

"I will not be done in by some buck-toothed bimbo who came from nothing and will never be anything great," Pansy called, shrieking, the walls beside Hermione began to fall around her, and she rolled over to the side. 

"If you want to play with explosions, I'll be gladly to oblige," Hermione called back, pointing her wand in their general direction, hoping her spell didn't hit Draco. If she could move his body out of the way, she could have a better chance to get rid of their charges. She had let loose the confringo spell, and a huge wave of flames erupted, just outside of Draco's reach, Goyle shrieked back and stumbled backwards, and she always knew he was slow, but didn't realize he was dumb enough to actually get hit. She wished she knew where she hit him so she could keep aiming for that spot and do maximum damage, which would at least take care of him. 

"You'll pay for that one!" Goyle called, shooting what looked to be a killing curse towards Hermione, who dodged it by mere inches. 

"Need a hand?" Luna called from somewhere off to Hermione's right, already joining the fray, three jets of red light escaping her wand as she spoke. Hermione was grateful she had come. "I passed Ginny, she had just woken up to your message, so shes a bit slow on the take but she's on her way now too."

"Hopefully we can get rid of them before she comes, because they won't like her when she's angry," Hermione supplied, moving closer to their targets now that she had backup. "We have to move Malfoy, it's the only reason I haven't been going all out." 

"I'll move his body, you block their spells if they try to come for me when I'm focused," Luna replied easily, already sending the spell, watching as Draco lifted easily into the air.

An orange colored Jinx went straight for Draco's body, but Hermione sent it off to the side, with a stunning spell she had sent at the same time to set it off course. Draco was finally out of the way,and around the corner Hermione had initially been hiding behind, and the three Slytherins were looking murderous about that. 

"It's a fair fight now," Luna commented at that, stepping up to flank Hermione's right side. 

"We trained under the Dark Lord, do you really think you can take us?" Milicent laughed, pointing her wand at Hermione, casting a leg lock jinx which sent her falling to the ground, face first.

"What are you, twelve?" Luna said, easily doing the counter-curse, letting Hermione move freely again. 

"We like to play with our food first," Pansy supplied, using her own wand to send the suit of armor at Luna, the former of which slashed at her with its sword. She let out a loud shriek and held her arm as blood ran gushing from where it had struck. Ginny appeared then, and her eyes were alight with a fire Hermione had only seen two times before.

"Is she supposed to scare us?" Goyle laughed, though his voice had a slight tremor in it at the sight of Ginny, she was, after all, the one who had taken down all of him, Malfoy, and Crabbe back in fifth year just before the battle of the department of mysteries by use of her bat-bogey hex. 

"I'm really just here to buy them more time until the real threats arrive," Ginny added, sending cascades of ricocheting jinxes off of the walls, bouncing every way towards the enemies, she was careful to angle her wand in a way that they wouldn't bounce back towards their side. 

The Slytherins had no idea what the jinx was, though Pansy and Millicent managed to duck in time, Goyle got hit with one, and was instantly thrown backwards, collapsing against the wall. 

Hermione pointed her wand to Luna and sealed the cut, the blonde witch had already exploded the suit of armor, but she was still on her knees. She had lost a lot of blood. "Go stay by Draco, Ginny and I can handle them," Luna nodded and did as she was told, knowing she wouldn't be much help from her blood-loss, already feeling a tad dizzy. 

Pansy and Millicent growled, both sending their own hexes at the pair of witches, Hermione getting hit by one of them, began to itch at her skin, feeling it burning up. She dropped her wand and began rolling around on the floor. 

"Hermione, you're fine, get up!" Ginny called, already moving in front of her friend to fend off any more spells sent to her. Ginny was good at offense, but defense was her struggling point, but she couldn't send out her own spells when she had to protect her friend against two madwomen. 

Harry, Neville, and Ron all appeared at the same time, Ron's eyes going straight for Hermione's body who was still rolling around on the floor muttering in agony, Harry looked downright murderous, and Neville just glared, all three of them had their wands drawn.

"We thought you three could handle this but then you were taking so long," Neville said with an apologetic look on his face. 

"We could but they're playing really dirty. They're sending stuff I've never even seen before. I'm no Hermione and right now she's useless and has been for the last five minutes; I can't play offense and defense on my own against the both of them. Get her to Luna and Draco and let's just finish them already!" Ginny replied to her friend, who nodded and quickly carried Hermione around the corner. Harry had sent out his signature expelliarmus spell, but Pansy did a quick shield charm and his wand went flying closer to their enemy's side. Ron was fairing no better, having already got a deep gash on his side, seeming to have gotten the same jinx Draco had placed on him. Neville finally joined the fight, diving for Harry's wand, and throwing it back to him, letting up a shield charm to block Pansy's jet of gold light, sending it right back at her, and watching as she fell to the ground, screaming in pain, painful blisters covering her entire face. 

"Millicent is nothing without the brains behind the operation, Harry, take her down," Ginny supplied, collapsing from her spent amount of energy she had been using from defending Hermione from any more pain.

Millicent fell to the ground just after Ginny had said that and the group of them looked around their friends, Luna was passed out from her blood loss, Draco was completely unconscious and barely breathing having lost more blood than Luna and suffered at more than all of them before Hermione had found him, Hermione was still rolling around and muttering in pain and about being on fire, Ron's gash was getting deeper by the minute, and Neville had a small sprain in his ankle from his dive for Harry's wand. They could have came out from this run-in a lot better for wear, but all of them had been out of practice for dueling for the last five months since the war ended, so their reflexes were off. They never thought they would have to do this again, at least, unless they chose that path like Harry and Ron were considering in the Auror department. 

Harry sent a patronus up to McGonagall who came running down with professors Slughorn, Alice Longbottom, and Flitwick in tow, and he told them what all had happened as Ginny was still out of breath from having to fend off three people for Hermione's sake. Alice looked absolutely enraged and was running forward about to use some potentially illegal methods to hurt the fallen Slytherins even further, but McGonagall held her in place with a wave of her wand. Everyone knew Professor Longbottom could have gotten rid of the spell easily, but she also knew she didn't want to go to Azkaban after just having gotten a shot at a real life after sixteen years.

Parkinson, Bullstrode, and Goyle were expelled on the spot, aurors came to get them immediately, and they would await a trial to decide their fates, and Flitwick and Slughorn used charms to levitate all of the war heroes plus Draco up to the hospital wing, where they were, once again, the only people there.

********************************************************************  
It figured, Draco thought, as he finally felt consciousness return to him. The one night of the week when none of his new companions were with him, he was attacked. Someone had to know the schedule for the times he was being watched, as they had waited a week to do anything and could have gotten to him last Saturday rather than last night. He wondered if Luna had let slip to Theodore about what was going on. She always was quick to see the good in himself, maybe she thought her foster brother could have been trusted, or he could have snuck into her common room and gotten to her things and saw the charts for himself? Who knew, but Draco knew someone had found out somehow. He opened his eyes and realized he was the first one to wake; three years of being tortured by the Dark Lord and his aunt certainly gave him an advantage against dark magic the others didn't have.

"I demand to see my son," Narcissa Malfoy's voice called from the hallway beyond the hospital wing. Wait, how was his mother there? She wasn't allowed to be outside of the manor for another eight months. 

"He needs his rest Mrs. Malfoy," Professor Longbottom's voice called, pleasant, but menacing at the same time. 

"Don't play this game with me, Alice, we all know how this will go down, now just let me in to see him. And it's Black again."

Alice Longbottom laughed at that; a dark sound. "My son was hurt too, Narcissa, why are you even out of the house anyway? Shouldn't you be stuck inside with a ball and a chain?" 

"My son, as you very well know, was hurt. The Ministry let me off of my house arrest to come see him. Now move aside."

"No."

"He could have died and you're going to tell me I cannot see him?" 

"Could have, but he didn't. Now I suggest you come with me to the headmistress's office and we can discuss things like adults, something I know you are not used to doing, having to always hide behind your husband." 

Narcissa let out a cruel laugh of her own, though anything else was cut off as it started to fade away, and Draco knew that conversation was far from over, and he wondered the history behind the two of them. He fell back asleep after that. He was more tired than he had thought.

When he woke again, Luna had been sitting up in bed, her bandages off of her. Ron had rolled onto the floor and was just staring up at the ceiling, completely awake. Harry had snuck into Ginny's bed and the two were whispering together. Hermione was off to a corner, holding her head in her hands.Neville was balancing on the windowsill, watching the sunrise.

"I'm sorry, this was all my fault," Draco supplied to the room at large, six pairs of eyes turned to meet him at once. 

"If we should be blaming anyone, it should be Luna," Ron replied with a roll of his eyes. 

"What Ronald meant to say, was that we have all been through much worse, and will probably face much worse in the future," Ginny commented, glaring at her brother, who shrugged.

"And we would do this all over again, ten times or more. Like it or not, but you're one of us now," Neville added, turning to face all of his friends, a small smile on his face though he winced from his effort. Draco knew firsthand bone repair potions took a whole day for full affect and he felt guilty and sorry for the guy. 

"Great, my wildest fantasy has come true," Draco muttered, which earned a chorus of laughter from his newfound friends. And that is what they were now; friends. If they were just people he kept for company, they wouldn't have fought so hard to save him and would have just left him to die. 

"This all could have been avoided completely if i would have just met you for rounds earlier like I was supposed to, but I had to chat with professor Binns about our latest assignment," Hermione sighed, running a hand through her hair. "We could have gotten by with less damage if I'd have been a little quicker to getting to you, at least. I knew what the spells they were using the whole time, and wanted to shout out to all of you what to send back, but I couldn't speak. It was like I was tongue tied to anything but saying fire and shrieking about pain. I should have at least dodged that one but I was watching Luna to make sure she got to safety."

"None of this is anyone's fault," Harry chimed in, sitting up, and moving Ginny off of his lap. "We got played -- someone knew we weren't watching Draco tonight, and took their shot." 

"I think I know who," Luna said abruptly, standing up from her bed and stretching her limbs. "And do not worry. It will be dealt with accordingly. But in the meantime, should we start up Dumbledore's Army meetings again? We all were a little rusty with our skills last night, that much is for sure."

"We have no use for the DA anymore, we should call it something else," Hermione added, following in Luna's footsteps and stretching herself out. 

"Any suggestions?" Ron replied lazily, looking down at his sides and flinching with the effort to move at all. 

"I survived a war and am now a useless twat anonymous?" Ginny supplied. 

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard," Ron shot back, though he had a small chuckle at it. 

"Something to do with Nargles," Luna said, her eyes gazing over and turning dreamlike. 

"Why don't we just call it what it is?" Hermione asked, the only good idea of all of them. "Just that. A dueling club. For us."

"I like that," Draco agreed easily. "Way better than what the other idiots were spewing on about." 

"Hey! Mine was good!" Ginny countered, throwing her pillow at Draco.

"Hey mate! You don't throw pillows at people who almost died the night before!" Draco nearly shouted, throwing his own back at her, a small smile on his face.   
"Can we still give each other fake names? So we can talk about it around everyone and they won't know who is who?" Luna questioned, her eyes coming back into focus. "Harry can be Phoenix, Ron can be King, Hermione can be Bookworm, Ginny can be Blueberry, Neville can be Knight, Draco can be Dragon, and I can be Harriett."

"Why Blueberry for me?" Ginny asked, looking to her best friend as if she was seeing her for the first time. 

"I've always pictured you as a blueberry when I've thought of my friends as fruits."

"Okay-- but why Harriett for you?"

"My patronus is a hare; I have named it Harriett."

The whole room stared at Luna in near awe, Draco was about to ask if she was always like that, though he had come to admire it lately,when the door opened and Theodore Nott appeared. All of his new companions looked to him with similar expressions of hate on their faces, and Draco could tell his old friend just wanted to disappear into thin air.

"I came to apologize," Theodore said simply and to the point. "I was the one who tipped them off about your little plans, Luna had told me in confidence, and I didn't know they would actually do anything like this. It is all my fault, and I understand if you want your father to turn me in to the proper authorities, Luna."

"It takes a great deal of strength and righteousness to come forward with the truth in a room full of people who want you dead at the moment," Luna supplied, not missing a beat, her eyes turning sad, a step up from her previous death glare she was giving her foster brother. "I will not have my father turn you in, but I cannot forgive you either. I will let him know what has happened, and he can arrange a suitable punishment for you that he deem fit. For now, my friends and I will leave you and Draco to talk, but we will be just outside the door, so don't try anything funny. We still need the rest and recuperation the hospital wing can provide, so please, don't be too long." And with that, all six of Draco's new friends and future, left him with his past.

"Remember when we were eight years old, and Crabbe and Goyle made me cry at my birthday party because I was dirty and a little stinky because I was in my not bathing phase and was rebelling against my mother?" Theodore started the conversation off as soon as the room was clear. "You stuck up for me, and told them you hadn't showered for weeks yourself, though we all knew it was a lie; you're Draco-bloody-Malfoy; you couldn't go a day without showering, it would ruin your precious golden locks, and you told them to pick on someone their own size, even though you had always been shorter than all the rest of us," Theodore smiled over to his former friend. "It was that moment that I knew we would be friends forever, and we always were. Up until this summer. We had even stuck together through a majority of the war, and stayed each other's hands," Theodore kept going on with his speech, Draco just listening in awe. "I have no reason to be angry with you, Draco. I should have stuck up for you the way you always did for me this year, but I didn't. My father is in Azkaban for life and my mother is dead and I'm stuck to spend the whole year with Looney-fucking-Lovegood and her even Loonier father. Your father might have the same fate as my own, but at least you still have your mother, who had always been like a second mother to me, and I resented you, hated you, and wanted you dead for it, so I could claim her as my own in your place, knowing she would always need someone to care for. I have come to realize after hearing what had happened, that I don't want a world without you. You're my best mate. You always have been. I need you like I need to breathe, you're my brother, and not by choice either. We have been through so much together, I should have never turned my back on you. Times are changing, and we need to adapt to them, if we want to be better than our biological fathers. We raised each other, and though you're only a month older than me, I see you as the adult in my life. You always were more mature than the rest of us, though at school you never acted like it. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, but I at least want to try and make amends. I care about you."

Draco took all of that in, looking anywhere but at his old friend, and sighed heavily after a whole minute of silence, "I care about you, too. I am still rightfully pissed about what happened, but those other three idjits will get what is coming to them," he stood up and embraced his friend in a hug, holding him tightly for a moment, before letting go. He punched him straight in the face and looked him over as Theodore fell forward in pain, holding his face. "Don't you ever call Luna Looney again -- I cannot forgive you for this traitorous act completely, but never give me a reason to doubt you again, or you will get much, much worse, do you understand me? I've been a little too nice lately, but maybe it's time the prince came back to rule his kingdom. Slytherin House better be ready, because a storm is brewing, and its name is Draco Malfoy." Perhaps his past and future didn't need to be so different, and he could keep them together, and still be able to make a better name for himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i still have no idea what the whole of this thing is and write it in insanity at 3am when I can't sleep and stay up until six am '
> 
> so  
> yeeee
> 
> you get what you get lol


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